William earns a base salary of $400.00 every week with an additional 5% commission on everything he sells. If William sold $2750.00 worth of items last week, what was his total salary?
Solution: First, find the amount of commission made by using the following formula: commission rate $\times$ total sales $=$ amount of commission made Since the commission rate is a percentage, we have to convert it into a decimal first. Percent means "out of one hundred," so $5\%$ is equivalent to $\frac{5}{100}$ which is also equal to $5 \div 100$ $5 \div 100 = 0.05$ Now you have all the information you need to find the amount of commission made: $0.05$ $\times$ $$2750.00$ $=$ $$137.50$ We can find the total salary for William by adding the amount of commission made to his base salary. amount of commission made $+$ base salary $=$ total salary $$137.50$ $+$ $$400.00$ $=$ $$537.50$ The total salary William made last week was $$537.50$.